LEGAL PROTECTION OF ABANDONED ANIMALS UNDER THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT
Nataša StojanovićFaculty of Law, University of Niš, Serbia
E-mail: natasa@prafak.ni.ac.rs

The problem of abandoned animals is not specific only to transitions countries, such as the Republic of Serbia. The global economic crisis has had a direct impact on the growing number of abandoned animals worldwide. Relying on the legislative models of a number of European countries, the Republic of Serbia adopted the Animal Welfare Act in 2009, which envisaged a different, qualitatively new and generally less discriminatory relationship of human beings towards animals. The adoption of this act has made provisions for an integral and comprehensive legal protection of animals in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Yet, this Act has also given rise to a number of questions. What is the actual scope of legal protection of abandoned animals under the Serbian Animal Welfare Act? Has the application of this Act (and the accompanying regulations) yielded specific results in the field of reducing the number of abandoned animals? What kinds of problems are encountered by the local authorities in the City of Niš in the implementation of the Animal Welfare Act? What kind of action has been envisaged in the Animal Population Control Program aimed at controlling and reducing the population of abandoned dogs and cats in the territory of the City of Niš? Moreover, what are the prospects of accomplishing the envisaged goals in a recent future? These are some of the questions the author endeavours to address in this article.
Key words:
animal welfare, responsible ownership, abandoned animals, legal treatment of abandoned animals